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The dressing room pep talk that fired up India in the 1983 World Cup final

Kapil Dev's India pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of the Cricket World Cup when they defended a score of 183 against West Indies in the 1983 final. Roger Binny, one of the architects of that win, speaks about what happened in the mid-innings break.

India won the 1983 World Cup final after bowling out West Indies for 140. (File Photo/ICC)

How the Indian cricket team recovered from posting 183 in the 1983 World Cup final against West Indies to bowling out the world champions to claim a 43-run victory will be forever remembered as one of the greatest heists in cricket history. Roger Binny, one of the architects of that unlikely win, recently spoke about what transpired in the Indian dressing room at the mid-innings break.

Binny, the leading wicket-taker of that World Cup, with 18 scalps in 8 matches, said on a Sportskeeda Facebook Live session that the entire team had been silent after getting bowled out for 183, but that captain Kapil Dev’s voice rang out to inspire the team before they stepped out to defend 183.

“It was one of the most disappointing mornings for us, we were looking to post 220+. 240 was a winning score but when we got out for 183, we couldn’t believe it. We had to wait for 40 minutes for the overs we didn’t play, sitting in the dressing room and brooding. Nobody was talking,” Binny said.

READ | Balwinder Sandhu on how a bouncer to the head in the ’83 final got him fired up

“Suddenly, Kapil Dev’s voice came on and he said, ‘Forget it, let’s go and bowl them out’. His words and Sunil (Gavaskar’s) words raised the tempo in the dressing room. A small score makes you fight harder. If we had scored 270, maybe they would’ve crushed us,” Binny said.

Defending 183, India drew first blood when Gordon Greenidge shouldered arms to Balwinder Sandhu to be dismissed for 1. Viv Richards and Desmond Haynes then put on a partnership that steadied the West Indies ship, but a flurry of wickets — in which the skipper Clive Lloyd was picked up by Binny — saw them collapse to being all out for 140.

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